Maryland State Department of Education Division of Certification and Accreditation

Transcription

1 Maryland State Department of Education Division of Certification and Accreditation Guidelines for Implementing Approved Alternative Preparation Programs Revised July 2010 This document is based upon: The Redesign of Teacher Education, 1995; The Quality Teacher Work Group Final Report, 2003; Code of Maryland Regulations 13A , revised 2005; Alternative Certification Concepts, Maryland Approved Alternative Programs, developed by Dr. Edward Root, President, State Board of Education; The discussion of the State Board of Education - Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board Joint Conference Committee meeting on March 23, 2005; Discussions of the Maryland State Board of Education at regularly scheduled meetings in January, February, and March 2010 at the request of Mr. James DeGraffenreidt, Jr., President, State Board of Education; Recommendations of the Maryland Approved Alternative Preparation Program Workgroup (April 2010). Purpose The purpose of these guidelines is to meet the Quality Teacher Work Group recommendations 1) for preparing all new teachers through Maryland Approved Programs (i.e., Maryland Approved Alternative Preparation Programs [MAAPP]); and 2) for ensuring that initial teacher certification is rigorous, standards and performance based, and rubric assessed. Full implementation of these recommendations will result in the elimination of credit count for initial certification. The Guidelines give language and direction to MAAPPs that utilize the Resident Teacher Certificate (RTC). To assure continued program integrity, the collaborative leadership of two and four-year institutions of higher education, private providers and, most critically, participating local public and non-public school systems is essential. Revision Reassessment and revision of the Guidelines document was required in following five years of MAAPP implementation. Overarching Guidelines MAAPP development and implementation should be consistent with the recommendations of the Redesign of Teacher Education (1995), the Final Report of the Quality Teacher Work Group (2003), and No Child Left Behind (2002). 1

2 MAAPP development and implementation should be consistent with the recommendation of the Teacher Requirements Study Group (2005) that all paths to initial teacher certification in Maryland should require an internship supervised by an expert classroom teacher. (See Internship/Residency Guidelines below.) In most instances, the full benefit of Maryland Approved Programs, including interstate reciprocity, is available to career changer programs through state-approved alternative pathways. MAAPPs will employ the Principles of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and/or the Maryland Essential Dimensions of Teaching, which align with the INTASC Principles, as well as nationally recognized content standards to guide program planning, implementation, and assessment. MAAPPs will meet the requirements of the Standards of Practice for Maryland Approved Alternative Preparation Programs as well as other required standards in their design. (See MSDE website, Division of Certification and Accreditation, Program Approval.) Required pre-residency internships are intensively supervised by experienced teachers or former teachers/administrators who are certificated in the same subject or specialty area. Flexibility between clock hours and credit hours for the internship, including the possibility of combination, may be decided on a program or individual basis. (Upper division and graduate credit are only available through four-year institutions.) Flexibility regarding length of internship and other program requirements are based upon internship structure and design and/or candidates prior knowledge, skills and experience. (A fuller explanation is provided below in the Guidelines for the Internship/Residency.) Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) grants authority to local superintendents or Department-recognized heads of organizations of nonpublic schools to recommend issuance of the Resident Teacher Certificate to individuals meeting the criteria of a MAAPP. Consistent with existing MSDE program approval procedures, all new MAAPPs require MSDE approval for development and implementation. MSDE conducts a State Program Peer Review of each MAAPP based on the standards named above in a fiveyear rotating cycle. Results of peer reviews inform the State Superintendent of Schools in the determination of continued program approval, probation, or approval withdrawal. MAAPPs require partners to collaborate on program design, implementation (from recruitment and screening through the residency), data collection, and reporting both to the State and the USDOE. Program Providers/Partners may be in the following categories: o Local Public School System: Clock-hour programs with or without college/university collaboration or with a non-college/university collaborator; or consortia programs in partnership with non-public schools, colleges/universities, private providers, and/or each other; o Non-Public Schools whose organizational structure includes a MSDE-recognized Department or School Head: alone or in partnership with a Local Public School 2

3 System, with or without college/university or private provider collaboration, and/or each other; o Four-Year College or University: Credit-hour/clock hour programs in partnership with local school systems and/or eligible non-public schools, consortia of local public or eligible non-public school systems and/or college/university providers/private providers; o Two-Year Colleges: Credit-hour/clock hour programs in partnership with local school systems and/or eligible non-public schools, consortia of local school systems and/or college/university providers/private providers; o Private providers such as The New Teacher Project or Teach for America in collaboration with a local public or eligible non-public school systems, with or without college/university or private provider collaboration, and/or each other; Access to approved alternative programs is open to qualified candidates interested in teaching any subject or grade level for which State-approved content testing (Praxis II or ACTFL) is available, though promoted particularly to those interested in teaching shortage areas. Program Entry Requirements: The most significant change to the Guidelines affects how a candidate may qualify for entry into a MAAPP. In May 2010, the Maryland State Board of Education, following the recommendations of an expert workgroup, convened in March 2010 by State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick to study the issue, voted to allow a test-in only option for determining content expertise in order to meet the RTC regulation requirements. Consequently, MSDE allows three options for the screening of candidates into programs: 1. Option 1: The candidate meets the qualifying score on a state-approved content test as a legitimate means of establishing content competency. If a program chooses to use the test-in option for a candidate(s), evidence of a major or core area of study is no longer required for admission, although an overall GPA of 2.75 is required. 2. Option 2: The candidate provides a transcript on which a clear, printed, declaration of a major matching the area for which the individual seeks certification is found, along with a GPA of 2.75 in that identified major area of coursework. 3. Option 3: The candidate s transcript demonstrates a 30-hour core area of study matching the area for which the individual seeks certification regardless of the stated major, again with a 2.75 GPA in that content area required. The first option requires a GPA that reflects the entire transcript; the second and third require a 2.75 GPA for the major or core area only. Programs are not required to choose one option that must be applied to all candidates; options may be applied on a case-by-case basis. Transcript analysts may use the same local discretion as formerly employed when deciding what courses qualify as core. 3

4 There is no change to the requirement that all candidates earn a qualifying score on the state-approved content test prior to the residency; the test-in option simply allows that score to be used up front for entry. Pre-Employment Training Requirements 1. Credit/clock hours must include candidate participation in standards-based preemployment training that includes the initial required elementary reading course, Processes and Acquisitions or the required middle/secondary reading course, Reading in the Content Area, Part I; 2. Training must include a focus on the teaching and learning skills (classroom management, lesson planning, state and local school system priorities, etc.) necessary for immediate success as teacher of record. Internship Entry Requirements Candidates must be in good standing with all MAAPP program elements associated with pre-employment training as evidenced by performance data. Internship Requirements MAAPPs require an internship lasting from four to eight weeks, the length of which is to be determined based upon a program s pre-employment/internship components and/or the experience of the candidate. Such experience, with documentation verifying comparable teaching knowledge and skills, could include teaching at the higher education level, in business or the military. Note: Though secondary level teaching equivalence is the most likely type of equivalence, internship flexibility may also be applied when certain individuals choose to teach in Early Childhood, Elementary Education, or Special Education and have appropriate grade-level teaching experience. Internships may occur concurrently with pre-employment training with MSDE approval. Equivalent experience mitigating the length of the internship is determined by the partnership participants operating the program, under the guidance, monitoring, and approval of MSDE, with documentation filed at MSDE at the time of completion of requirements. Technical assistance is provided by MSDE to support innovative approaches and flexibility in determining internship requirements. Internship placement is determined by the local school system or the non-public school for which there is a Department-recognized head. The internship could occur in the internship supervisor s classroom, in the classroom for which the intern will assume responsibility as the resident teacher, or in a summer school program. The internship supervisor could be a currently employed teacher, including a rehired retired teacher or administrator, or supervision may consist of a team made up of a combination of the above drawn from the local school system, or the eligible non-public school. Intensive supervision is provided to support development of interns. During the internship, supervision of classroom teaching is provided on a daily basis. Interns also observe the teaching of the supervising teacher as well as other teachers in the school. Features commonly provided in Professional Development Schools, such as interviewing key personnel including administrators, special educators, counselors, 4

5 pupil personnel workers, social workers, school psychologists, testing coordinators, media specialists, and other specialists; participating in seminars with other professionals or pre-professionals, and participating in before and after school events are available and expected of interns. The Residency Readiness of the candidate to move from the internship to the residency is determined through the multiple perspectives of all providers/partners as evidenced through performance data. In addition, if not completed prior to program entry, the candidate must earn a qualifying score on a state-approved content test (Praxis II or ACTFL). Readiness for the residency results in the issuance by MSDE of the RTC at the request of the local school head (superintendent) and employment as the classroom teacher of record by the Maryland local school system or the participating non-public school. For MAAPPs, ongoing support and mentoring are required throughout the period of employment on the RTC. The type, form, and extent of supports to the RTC teacher are determined and provided through program providers in concert with key personnel in the school with MSDE approval. Residency requirements for the RTC are made clear to program providers and participants through MSDE documents and technical assistance provided by MSDE. Technical assistance can be arranged regionally to provide general information, as well as targeted to specific groups interested in developing state-approved alternative programs. The Resident Teacher Certificate is valid for no less than one and no more than two years and may not be renewed. Transition from RTC to Standard Professional Certificate (SPC) I Requirements Successful completion of program requirements, including remaining reading courses, Demonstration by evidence to key school representatives and other appropriate stakeholders of standards-based professional performance; Praxis II pedagogy qualifying score; Satisfactory evaluation from hiring principal. Request from local school system superintendent or school Department-recognized Head for the SPC I Other Considerations: Non-public schools for which there is a Department-recognized head may participate in Maryland approved alternative preparation programs involving use of the RTC. MSDE should encourage colleges and universities to develop new programs, including those using the RTC. MSDE review teams should look for evidence that program options at colleges and universities provide late decider pathways to certification, as recommended in the Redesign of Teacher Education, that may or may not use the RTC component. 5

6 Pay for school-based work during the internship is not discouraged and could be promoted through such arrangements as long term substitute pay or monthly stipends. Scholarship funding may be available from the State Office of Student Financial Assistance for eligible candidates enrolled in approved programs leading to certification in critical shortage areas. Beginning Fall 2010, MAAPPs are required to establish an Assessment System designed to ensure ongoing program improvement. Please see the Power Point entitled MAAPP Assessment System on the MSDE website, Certification and Accreditation, Program Approval and Assessment. Review Consideration These guidelines will be reviewed by the Maryland State Board of Education and the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board between January and March, 2015 to determine their efficacy with regard to candidate participation, program completion, and retention as teachers. Approved: May, 2005 Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board; Maryland State Board of Education Amended: October 25, 2005: Maryland State Board of Education November 3, 2005: Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board April 2, 2009 Regulatory change, Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board Revised: July,